I wonder if any of them have figured out yet that it is unreasonable to sign players to contracts and then turn around 24hrs later and say that they will not be honoring those contracts in their entirety?

They offered a mechanize that would have seen every contract paid out in full.

__________________I've been looking for trouble... but trouble hasn't been cooperating!

Any chance we'll soon be seeing the end of Gary Bettman? Negotiations seemed to pick up this week once Gary Bettman was removed from the bargaining table. He's universally despised by fans, media, players, and probably the majority of owners alike. His tenure as commissioner has been marked both by controversy and constant work stoppages. Bottom line: he's been a failure.

Any chance we could soon be seeing the end of Gary Bettman as National Hockey League commissioner?

Gary Bettman suggested the meetings without him and Don Fehr. If anything, that tells me that Fehr was the problem, and that GB was man enough to recognize that stepping aside was the only way to get Fehr away from the table, too.
Yt
The owners unanimously voted for both this lockout and the one before (I don't remember 1994). Gary Bettman has presided over 3 work stoppages, but I fail to see how they would have been any less likely with a different commissioner. In 2004, the system was broken and it took taking a year away from players to even get a cap. A different commissioner was not going to get it done in less. This time GB wanted to negotiate back in 2011, and the players refused to even come to the table until August. At that point, what is he supposed to do? Take any offer they give him lying down to get back on the ice by the 15th? I really think the commissioner has profoundly little to do with a lockout v no lockout. He's a representative.

Gary Bettman has introduced institutions like the Winter Classic, HBO 24/7, and more importantly, grown HRR at an historic pace.

He made a bad gamble in Phoenix, but if you think Southern/Western expansion was a bad idea overall, I strongly disagree. His mandate has been to increase league popularity to a point where he can compete with the other 3 major sports, get a TV deal, and there's no way you do that with 14 US teams in the Northeast. Period. Maybe you personally like original 6 hockey better, but that's not his mandate. Not even close.

Here's an honest question: what has Gary Bettman himself done that you dislike? Try to be specific and focus on things Gary Bettman personally did, not just, this lockout sucks so Bettman is to blame.

He has cultivated the most adversarial and dysfunctional relationship with the PA imaginable. Just as the Versaille Treaty caused the rise of Hitler, the 04 lockout made the union hire Fehr. Rightly or wrongly, Betman makes the PA lose their minds. Failure

His strategy is always "let's torch our cities and they will starve first.". But this galvanized the PA by making it an allout war. No way this should have gone on this long. Failure.

he is a terrible face for the league. His condescending, arrogant, elitist, demeanor makes him easily
disliked. Perhaps unfair, but true.

He has cultivated the most adversarial and dysfunctional relationship with the PA imaginable. Just as the Versaille Treaty caused the rise of Hitler, the 04 lockout made the union hire Fehr. Rightly or wrongly, Betman makes the PA lose their minds. Failure

His strategy is always "let's torch our cities and they will starve first.". But this galvanized the PA by making it an allout war. No way this should have gone on this long. Failure.

he is a terrible face for the league. His condescending, arrogant, elitist, demeanor makes him easily
disliked. Perhaps unfair, but true.

And to add the most obvious point, he has failed to keep the game on ice, which is his ultimate mandate. If he gets the credit for growth, then he gets the blame for this monstrousity of a league that now sees a lost season, not as a one-off tragedy, but as 'part of the process'. Failure

He has cultivated the most adversarial and dysfunctional relationship with the PA imaginable. Just as the Versaille Treaty caused the rise of Hitler, the 04 lockout made the union hire Fehr. Rightly or wrongly, Betman makes the PA lose their minds. Failure

His strategy is always "let's torch our cities and they will starve first.". But this galvanized the PA by making it an allout war. No way this should have gone on this long. Failure.

he is a terrible face for the league. His condescending, arrogant, elitist, demeanor makes him easily
disliked. Perhaps unfair, but true.

Google Paul Kelly former NHLPA head. The man was fired because he had a good relationship with Bettman.

I believe the answer is 5 if you include interim Executive Director Ted Saskin. All of them deposed in one way
or another with the exception of Fehr, who to me appears to be heading into the bottom of the 8th, behind.

People are forgetting that Bettman is also negotiating with 30 very rich and powerful men that are used to getting what they want. The NHLPA isn't the only thing Bettman is trying to make happy.

Bettman invited the moderate owners to negotiate a deal directly with NHLPA and the owners thought they had a deal ready to be voted on and the players just ignored it and came back with new demands, that just put all of the owners right behind Bettman.

Fehr just gave Bettman even more power over the owners. When the owner that stands to lose the most revenue and profit leaves the negotiations upset, the NHLPA should be very worried. The NHLPA needs Toronto on their side to have a shot at getting what they want and they may have lost them.

The majority of the owners will handle the $250-300 million lost profit to get out of $1.8 billion worth of salary. The make whole will go away and the owners will save $300 million out of pocket. Makes up for most of the lost profit.

Can't wait for the "disclaimer" vote by the NHLPA. When they lose in court (over the legality of the lockout), then we will really see what kind of offers they get from the NHL.

This is precisely what has me baffled with the NHLPA's stance, whatever that may. They have just turned the most profitable team in hockey against them to the point of outrage, and they somehow believe he and the remaining owners will come crawling back. Nevertheless, after tonight I firmly believe Bettman's job security has never been stronger. Now even the moderates view the PA with a certain level of disdain.